There is a need to minimize memory leakage current IDDQ in the standby mode. With the bit line in the conventional bit line-high precharge state, there is current leakage from the bit line to the word line through the gate oxide of the pass gate, as well as bit line current leakage to the low side of associated memory cells through the subthreshold leakage of the pass gate. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a conventional SRAM cell 10 with bias conditions to the bit line BLT/BLB of the standard design 10.
Bit line current leakage to the substrate through a parasitic diode and GIDL is typically negligible in SRAM leakage, and hence will not be mentioned hereafter.
If the bit line voltage were lowered relative to Vdd, there would also be leakage from the high side of the cell 10 to the bit line through the associated pass gate. Thus, neglecting gate current and the non-linearities of subthreshold current with Vds, there would not be an advantage to lowering the bit line voltage to reduce leakage. Also, since the cell 10 is more subject to upset from a pull-down than a pull-up state, because the load transistor is weaker than the drive transistor, the conventional approach has been to keep bit lines at Vdd in standby.
However, the gate current is increasingly important at scaled technology nodes, and the subthreshold current is non-linear with Vds. Thus, IDDQ can be lowered by lowering the bit line voltage in the standby mode. Care must be taken such that anything done to reduce bit line leakage does not result in cell up-sets or in increased leakage in associated circuits, such as in sense amplifiers.